People wander through life searching for meaning or a purpose for one’s existence, and many find it troubling and depressing to come home every day without a clue. The living monster comes out when the answer is not revealed, cast away by society for not fitting in. Subdued in a cave for all eternity, as the society’s outcast of the world, is the life that Grendel is condemned to live. For as long as he shall live, Grendel, more in touch with his inner monster than others, will stay, “the G-d cursed brute,” (Beowulf 11) that he was condemned to be. He will be forever waging a war, “one against all,” (Beowulf 11). In Beowulf by Seamus Heaney, Grendel is shown through the eyes of his prey; however, through other literary pieces, such as, “Afterwards and “Grendel”; the perception of Grendel changes and he is shown as more than just a monster, and more as a creature with human-like feelings.
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And Grendel recognizes insanity during, “the twelfth year of my idiotic war” (Gardner), but yet he cannot feel and is “neither proud nor ashamed,” (Gardener) of the actions he had done and the live he had taken. So, through his “lonely war,” (Beowulf 13) he moves, not stopping his “death-dealing,” (Beowulf 13). Grendel kills in attempt to take away from those who can feel, since he is deprived of any feeling at all; except the jealousy in his heart. The Danes live in gluttony, feasting in happiness. This is the thing, which this condemned monster was deprived of, and he was forced to watch but never to feel, the force, ever pushing him to these infamous crimes. Grendel moves on through his tragic life, forever taking from those of which he cannot have. A lonely monster becomes a lonely thief, stealing from what others will not readily give:
And Grendel recognizes insanity during, “the twelfth year of my idiotic war” (Gardner), but yet he cannot feel and is “neither proud nor ashamed,” (Gardener) of the actions he had done and the live he had taken. So, through his “lonely war,” (Beowulf 13) he moves, not stopping his “death-dealing,” (Beowulf 13). Grendel kills in attempt to take away from those who can feel, since he is deprived of any feeling at all; except the jealousy in his heart. The Danes live in gluttony, feasting in happiness. This is the thing, which this condemned monster was deprived of, and he was forced to watch but never to feel, the force, ever pushing him to these infamous crimes. Grendel moves on through his tragic life, forever taking from those of which he cannot have. A lonely monster becomes a lonely thief, stealing from what others will not readily give: